Alessandro Gerelli as seen by Simone Rossetto in Murano glass.
By Pete Vack
Photography by Alessandro Gerelli
Alessandro Gerelli: 140 articles, 3000 photos and 14 years with VeloceToday
In the summer of 1967, September 8th, to be exact, a 19 year-old college student by the name of Alessandro Gerelli was lucky enough to have obtained a pit pass to the Italian Grand Prix. Like today, pit passes were extremely difficult to obtain. But Gerelli was determined. He would not listen to the sound of Amon’s Ferrari from far behind the fences; he wanted desperately to be where the action was. In what must have been a passionately good letter, he wrote to the organizers and asked them if a student could obtain a pit pass. He would do no damage, he wrote, wouldn’t create problems, and maybe if he could just get a pass for the official test day, he could then take some photos. “The process worked,” says Alessandro, “and a very kind lady from the Monza organization called me, and said she had been touched by my letter.” The young Gerelli went to the Monza practice on Friday with a pit pass. He had to access a certain gate and mention the name of the lady who responded to his letter. “The miracle had been done,” recalled Gerelli.
His patience and fortitude resulted in catching a rare photo of Enzo Ferrari in the pits. Ferrari rarely attended races, even at Monza. Gerelli knew that Ferrari would often show up during practice for the Grand Prix so it was not a surprise. “But of course he was Ferrari and in any case the opportunity to see him and to take a picture of him was something exceptional for a young Ferrari lover like me,” said Gerelli. [Read more…] about The Detailed World of Alessandro Gerelli
